How to Build Lego Robots
A childhood toy from the past has been revamped for the frontier edge of the future. Where traditional Legos have inspired children to become builders and architects, the new Lego Mindstorms are inspiring a new wave of inventors to become robot developers and programmers.
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Instructions
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How to Build Lego Robots
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Buy a Lego Mindstorms kit. They are available at large toy retailers like Target or Toys R Us, or you can shop for them online via the link posted below. The newest generation offers more advanced sensors and programming than previous versions.
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Build the robot of your choice. There are a few default robots that Lego will instruct you to make, but Mindstorms is also open to the possibility of unique robot designs. The robot's actions will be determined by the placement of its sensors. There are sensors for light, distance, touch and sound, as well as three motors for movement. All motors and sensors are connected to an “intelligent brick” that stores the programming.
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Install the Lego programming software into your computer. Instead of having to write code, which more advanced robots are governed by, the code is broken down into simple drag-and-drop icons that tell the robot to perform certain actions.
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Create a program for your robot. For instance, if you want your robot to pick something up, instruct it to run until the touch sensor is activated. When that sensor is activated, you can also program a claw to clench together and seize the object. The “intelligent brick" isn’t limited to one program, so design a few for your specific robot and see what happens.
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Download the commands into the “intelligent brick” on your robot. You can do this via a USB cable or using your computer’s Bluetooth function. Once the programs are loaded into the brick, you can cycle through the programs using the gray left and right buttons. Press the orange button to begin or end the program.
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Pay attention to your robot and see if there are any flaws in your programming. Lego has instructions for programming that are fairly foolproof. But if things aren’t going as you planned, go back to the programming software and take a second look at your commands.
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